At the age of 9, Mark’s interest in woodworking began, which led him to begin an apprenticeship with Homestead Heritage Furniture at the age of 17. In his own shop he has built many pieces of furniture from small dovetail boxes to large 10′ round conference tables. Most of his work has been for clients who have ordered custom pieces for their homes and offices. Mark has been building custom furniture for the last 20 years and is now the manager of the Heritage Furniture business. Mark enjoys making hand tools and jigs that can simplify the building process. He has taught children how to shape simple utensils like wooden spoons and cutting boards as well as other larger projects. “Seeing the young grow to maturity in their craft is what I appreciate.”

If you remember, when drilling the MDF I finished the holes from the other side using a Forstner bit. It made for a clean hole, but the positioning wasn't as precise as I really wanted. So for this, I decided to clamp a length of scrap MDF to the back side, and to drill straight through. My Forstner bits were too short, so I bought an extender. And then I found that the spade bits I was using gave a cleaner exit hole. Whooda thunk?
Build on the skills you developed in Woodworking I through the construction of a small cabinet. Woodworking II introduces students to miter and dado joints, hardware installation, and re-sawing on the bandsaw. Please bring a sketch for a small cabinet you would like to build to the first class. NOTE: Students are responsible for their own materials in this class.
While a strict figure for the bench’s weight capacity is not available, a quick browse through their other stand and bench products shows a general weight capacity well above most other brands. As such, while we cannot say for certain that this bench provides the best weight capacity, it is more than likely that it the capacity is similar to the other products in the catalog.
This is one of those things that you never know you need unless you have one. This amazing wooden sofa sleeve works perfectly on either or both sides of a sofa set. It gives your sofa a nice look. The sleeve can also be modified to include a cup holder, mobile holder, etc. You can easily find this item on any online furniture store, but an even better idea is to build one. This way, you can make a sofa sleeve design that you actually like and make space for cup and other things.

Beyond the weight capacity, the Grizzly is also the largest table top on our list and in more ways than one. For a workspace, the Grizzly provides 5’ of length by 2 ½’ of width. There is not another table that really comes close to that size. Another size advantage of the Grizzly bench is the table top’s thickness. While the standard thickness of the table top for a quality woodworking bench is 1” with lesser models often offering only ¾” of thickness, the Grizzly provides a 1 ½” thick table top.

The right shed for your home will depend on your desired use. Utility bins are ideal for storing trashcans and recycling bins out of sight. Patriot sheds are ideal for sporting equipment, riding mowers, snowblowers, and other small vehicles and heavy tools. If you want a workshop with storage to spare, look into the Elite line of products. With creative small-space storage solutions, any one of our sheds can truly increase the usable space in your home.
At the age of 9, Mark’s interest in woodworking began, which led him to begin an apprenticeship with Homestead Heritage Furniture at the age of 17. In his own shop he has built many pieces of furniture from small dovetail boxes to large 10′ round conference tables. Most of his work has been for clients who have ordered custom pieces for their homes and offices. Mark has been building custom furniture for the last 20 years and is now the manager of the Heritage Furniture business. Mark enjoys making hand tools and jigs that can simplify the building process. He has taught children how to shape simple utensils like wooden spoons and cutting boards as well as other larger projects. “Seeing the young grow to maturity in their craft is what I appreciate.”

Remove the jaws and route the edges that you could not route while they were still attached. Then use a roundover bit on all of the corners except the inner edge of the inner jaw of the end vise. Give everything a lite sanding, and apply Danish oil to the inner surfaces of the jaws. (By "inner surfaces", I mean those surfaces that will not be accessible when the vises are assembled - the inner surface of the inner jaw, that bolts to the bench, and the outer surfaces of the outer jaws, that bolt to the vise plates.)

The jaw for the front vise needed to be 10" long - to span the distance from the leg to the end of the top, 1-1/2" thick - to allow for benchdog holes to be drilled in it, and 5" tall. The end vise was mounted 3/4" lower than the front vise, and the screw and guide rods were thicker, so its jaws needed to be at least 6-1/2" tall. Again, they needed to be 1-1/2" thick to allow for benchdog holes, and 23" long to span the width of the bench.
The source above is not exactly a tutorial, but it gives you a basic idea of how the author built a Quirky Pallet Art to enhance the look of their old house. You can also find another tutorial at the link below. It shares a step by step procedure for making a wooden pallet sign. The final product is not exactly the same as the one above, but the basic idea is the same.
TOH has showed you how to make a toy chest with your kids before, but if you don't feel like cutting the wood yourself, opt for a kit like the one for this beautiful cherry chest. The kit comes with pre-cut pieces and all the hardware you need. Like many toy chests out there, the closed lid can also function as a bench seat, and the hinges are designed to prevent little fingers from getting caught. This model is available in three different finishes.
WoodSkills and Norman Pirollo offer online woodworking classes, woodworking plans, video lectures and woodworking tutorials. The classes and courses provide detailed and comprehensive step by step sequences for woodworking skill-building. Each woodworking class and tutorial is based on actual furniture making expertise. As founder of White Mountain Design , Refined Edge Design , WoodSkills and Pirollo Design, I bring to you two decades of knowledge in furniture making. In recent years, I have authored three woodworking books:
So drill the benchdog holes through the MDF layer. Begin by laying out their positions. You'll want these to be precise, so that the distances between the holes are consistent. The vises you are using will constrain your benchdog spacing. My front vise worked most naturally with two rows of holes four inches apart, my end vise with two pairs of rows, with four inches between the rows and eight inches between the pairs. Because of this, I decided on a 4" by 4" pattern.
The description below is an outline for how the course will proceed. We intentionally maintain a level of flexibility in our curriculum to adapt and respond to the needs of each group of students depending on aptitude. Each project has a basic standard of completion as well as design opportunities for elaboration and exploration of more advanced techniques. Our instructors will guide you through projects as is best suited for your ability level.
After I left the magazine for a new job, I did all of my woodworking in my small two-car garage, but it was a struggle. Power, lighting, and temperature control were limited. And because I shared space with our cars I was always moving machines around, often while in the middle of a project. On top of that, my tool and machine collection had long since eclipsed the space. For all these reasons, fixing up the garage wasn’t an option. My finished basement is a family room, so it was out, too. An addition to the home or a stand-alone building would have been too expensive. I had to find a better path to a shop.